Cory Gagnon fires a round from his Russian SKS rifle at a target on the firing range at The Shooting Edge in Calgary Tuesday September 21, 2010, the day before Parliament votes on whether to scrap the long gun registry.

Photograph by: Ted Rhodes
, Calgary Herald

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Wednesday night his government will continue to fight until the federal long-gun registry is abolished, refusing to budge after the database survived a critical vote.

"The people of the regions of this country are never going to accept being treated like criminals and we will continue our efforts until this registry is finally abolished," Harper said outside the House of Commons.

"After 15 years, opposition to the long-gun registry is stronger in this country than it has ever been."

By a 153-151 margin, MPs voted to preserve the 15-year-old registry, with the three opposition parties joining forces to defeat a bid by Tory backbencher Candice Hoeppner to scrap the databank.

Six New Democrats broke with their party and joined the government vote, but it was not enough to defeat a motion to kill Hoeppner's bill.

It was a visibly emotional vote for some opposition MPs who withdrew their earlier support for Hoeppner's bill, including Yukon Liberal Larry Bagnell, a long-standing registry opponent, who wiped his eyes then covered his face as hecklers on the government benches yelled "shame."

Newfoundland Liberal Scott Simms garnered a standing ovation from his caucus mates. He backed down on his strong opposition to the registry after his father committed suicide with a rifle earlier this year.

There was not an empty seat in the Commons, with all MPs showing up and voting exactly as expected.

A motion to kill Hoeppner's bill won support from 75 Liberals, 48 Bloc Quebecois, and 30 New Democrats. Two Independent MPs, including ousted Tory Helena Guergis, sided with the 143 Conservatives.

There are 305 members of Parliament, but the Commons Speaker, Liberal Peter Milliken, only votes to break a tie.

Hoeppner, a first-term MP from Manitoba, said that it would be futile for the government to bring forward another bill to kill the registry unless it can secure a majority government in the next election.

"My message everywhere I go is if you want the registry scrapped you need to vote for a Conservative member of Parliament," she said. "We're going to keep going, this isn't the end this is only the beginning."

She urged Canadians to punish MPs who changed sides by voting them out on election day.

Opposition critics have said there is no incentive for the Conservatives to proceed with another bill in this Parliament because their opposition to the registry draws significant financial donations and gives the party a campaign issue.

Hoeppner's private member's bill passed handily in a preliminary vote last November, with the help of eight Liberals and 12 New Democrats.

But Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, whose party created the registry in 1995, ordered his caucus to vote as a block. NDP leader Jack Layton allowed a free vote, but he succeeded in convincing six of his registry opponents to switch sides, most of whom represent ridings where the Conservatives are not considered to be a threat.

The Bloc Quebecois has been unwavering in its support for the registry, which was created as part of a wider package on gun control, in response to the 1989 Montreal massacre at Ecole Polytechique.

Layton and Ignatieff have proposed "compromise" plans to "fix" the registry by making it more palatable to opponents. Layton said the NDP has crafted its proposals into a private member's bill, which he plans to introduce in the House of Commons in the coming weeks.

"We want to build bridges," said Layton, who added the registry has been divisive for too long.

His initiative calls for streamlining the registry paperwork, making it free of charge, and decriminalizing the first two offences of failing to register by issuing a warning the first time and a ticket the second time.

Ignatieff has a similar proposal but his hinges on his party winning government.

"If you care about public safety in this country, you want a gun registry, period," he told reporters.

Ignatieff would not say whether he will support the NDP bill.

Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe, however, appeared open to the prospect.

"I'm ready to discuss any good proposal to make sure the register is as (good) as possible," he said. "But as far as I know, it works well now. There were problems at the beginning, that's for sure, but that was no reason to abolish it."

Wendy Cukier, president of the lobby group Coalition for Gun Control, urged the Conservatives to abandon their fight and she questioned how much they have spent on their anti-registry campaign.

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Cory Gagnon fires a round from his Russian SKS rifle at a target on the firing range at The Shooting Edge in Calgary Tuesday September 21, 2010, the day before Parliament votes on whether to scrap the long gun registry.

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